Friday, January 13, 2012

It’s been quite some time since I’ve written about REDIpix.com – my favorite gallery wrap printing service. They did a fantastic job with one of my prints with their awesome Satin Cloth Gallery Wrap Elite product (see my review), so when David Elmore (the owner) said he wanted to show me a cool new product he had – I was all ears!

The Dazzle Gallery Wrap is a cool product that is wrapped with smooth cloth instead of nasty bumpy canvas so you enjoy a smooth finish to your product. This is awesome for big signs from Times Square like the Palace Theater shown above. It’s also great for fog (the difference it makes will blow your mind), nightscapes, and so much more. When I first heard about the Dazzle I knew I’d be impressed with the result, but this just blew me away!

How the Dazzle is Built

It even comes with a remote and everything you need to hang it (multiple options)!!!

Your photo is giclée printed on smooth Satin Cloth and wrapped around the sides of a MightyCore box that is open on the front. Several rows of LED lights are attached to the back of the 2-inch-deep box to light up your print. They provide a power adapter that plugs into the wall outlet and a remote control dimmer. The 12V white wire from the adapter to the print can be hidden behind the wall.

Be creative with the sides

I provided the image and they automatically created the imaging for the sides NOTE: The red neon lights are at different levels in real life, so they look funny in the photo but those are not artifacts

Their Photoshop artist prepares the sides for you with your choice of eight options or a combination of them. Although image wrap is popular, this often crops the photo too much as viewed from the front. In my case they applied a mirror image of the border of my image. Solid color sides or a blurred image are also good choices. Some of their customers design original borders using a repeating small image that goes all the way around, so you can control this if you like.

You can change the image

The image is stretched and held tight to the back with tape. It takes about 10 minutes for you to remove the old one and stretch on a new print. They provide detailed instructions on how to do this.

Long-lasting low-power LEDs

The LEDs will last over 6 years of continuous use at full brightness and draw only 12 watts for a 16x24" print. It comes with a remote control on/off/dimmer that will work from anywhere in the room. Since you probably do not want it on all the time, they can also provide an optional digital timer that will turn it on and off at times you choose. Or leave the brightness turned low at night -- it makes a great nightlight.

Video Demonstration

Conclusion

My photos and video in this article don’t do this print justice because when I turn on the lights a different exposure is required that really needs to be HDR to capture all of the details. This is A LOT cooler in real life than I can possibly capture in this article. If you are ever by my office then give me a shout and I’ll try to make arrangements to show you as this is something you really need to see to believe!

I should note that the print featured in the video was done from the original in-camera JPEG whereas the Dazzle was re-imaged from the RAW file so processing differences caused the shift in colors. Please see my review to learn how REDIpix.com sends you proof images before they print anything so you can see how it will look before your product is made. The color in the Dazzle is exactly what I approved based on the reimaged version.